Tuesday, April 26, 2011

A 35-year-old Mexican national living in Graniteville pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to illegally re-entering the United States after deportation and will once again face deportation.

Manuel Garcia-Martinez, who has also used the names Daniel Garcia-Hernandez and Marco Hernandez, of Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served and will be turned over to immigration authorities for deportation proceedings.

Garcia-Martinez was located in the Graniteville area after local authorities responded to a domestic incident at a residence. Authorities recognized Garcia-Martinez from a previous incident in 2008 when he was deported, and they notified agents with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The agents verified that Garcia-Martinez was in the United States illegally, and he was arrested on Feb. 8 on federal immigration charges.

Garcia-Martinez faced a two-year statutory maximum sentence for the charge, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.